


Terminal

by 10k_au



Category: Z Nation (TV)
Genre: F/M, Kidnapping, Terminus (The Walking Dead), cannibals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-07
Updated: 2016-11-07
Packaged: 2018-08-29 18:28:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8500510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/10k_au/pseuds/10k_au
Summary: 10k leaves his girlfriend Hope with Addy for a few hours and does not expect what happens as a consequence.





	

Hope stuffs some clothes into her tattered bag, pleased to get her hands on some things that actually looked like they might be her size. She’d been wearing the same goddamn clothes for what felt like months upon months. The soft cotton was heaven against her fingertips, she almost didn’t want to put it down, but if she wanted to keep it clean then she had to put it in her bag. The door to the shop that she was raiding opened, the bell over the glass ringing shrill and crystal.

“Hey!” Addy bounces in, running her z whacker along the grates so that it spills out a song, high notes against lower basses. “Found anything good?” Hope lifts the bag and flashes Addy a look at the clothes. She makes a face that says ‘not bad’ and hops up onto a counter, her legs swinging. The door opens again and 10k slides in, adjusting his rifle on his back, a small smile lifts the corner of his lips.

“Hi girls, we’re going a little further out of town, did you want to tag along” He says, brushing a bit of hair back under his bandana. Hope watches his movements with a sigh, loving the tiny signs of emotion in each action. Addy looks over at her, shrugs her shoulders and then turns back to 10k, tilting her head to the side.

“Hope’s enjoying herself picking our clean clothes, we’ll just stay here for a bit.”

“Okay sure! We’ll be back for you in a bit!” He sends a glace towards hope, smile widening so much that his eyes crinkle up. God she couldn’t believe that he was hers, from the day that they’d met she’d been falling deeper and deeper in love with him. He nods and then turns and goes back through the doorway. He crosses the road towards the car and comes to a stop as Warren gently takes a hold of his arm.

“Hey, Hope has our water in her satchel, can you dash back and get it?”

“Yeah sure, give me a second.” He takes a few steps backwards and then spins on his heels, moving slowly back to the shop and pushing once again through the doorway. Addy is still sat on the counter, clicking her heels against the wood. He looks past her, shifting his balance to search for Hope. But he can’t see her. With a frown he sends Addy a second glance.

“Where is she?” He asks, voice croaking unexpectedly. She shrugs back.

“I dunno, she went missing!” She can’t keep a straight face, and bursts into laughter straight away, but that doesn’t stop 10k’s stomach from dropping for a moment. He closes his eyes, pinching his nose between his thumb and forefinger as Hope laughs as well, popping up from behind her friend.

“Don’t do that.” He mutters, trying not to smile out of pure relief and delight at the sound of her giggling. “I just came to get the water” he gestures towards the bag laying on the floor. Hope picks it up and takes it over to him, holding it out on the end of three fingers. He takes it gently, his hand brushing hers and then he ducks down to kiss her on the forehead quickly.

“Stay safe.” He tells her. “I’ll be back soon.” They smile at each other one last time and then he pulls the bag over his shoulder and makes his way back to the truck. As he swings himself up onto the back, Warren nods at him from the cab.

“They going to be alright by themselves?” She asks, raising one eyebrow. He chews on his lip as he puts the bag next to Doc and settles down into his usual place, laying his rifle across his lap.

“Yeah, they can look after themselves.” He grins as the vehicle pulls away.

A couple of hours later, the truck pulled back up outside of the shop. Doc shoved 10k’s shoulder, joking with him about something he hardly even understood. He didn’t understand half the banter that the group shared with him, if he was honest he just preferred to pretend he knew what they meant rather than ask and get stuck in a never ending loop of questions. He jumped down from the bed of the van and landed in a puddle, feet splashing cold brown water up his legs. With a groan he tried to ignore the unpleasant sensation and instead walked quickly across the road to the clothes shop. 

The door opened with its usual tinkle and he chuckled under his breath, brushing rain out of his face as he was met with the indoor warmth. Addy was waiting for him inside, he made a little waving gesture and watched as she took a couple of steps towards him, wringing her hands.

“It’s Hope.” She says quietly, eyes wide. “She’s gone.”

“Oh haha yeah sure.” 10k laughs, dropping his bag to the floor. “Where is she this time?” he moves further into the room and check behind the desk that she’d been behind before, finding nothing but clothes and shoes scattered across the floor. He turns back, face dropping slightly.

“Addy.”

“Some men took her.” She breathes, her eyes are watering and her face is pale. 10k goes numb, emotions all flying away from him at once. He feels as though he hardly exists anymore, he could never imagine life without Hope. Now she was gone, perhaps for good, perhaps she was even..

“Was she..?” He mutters, not able to look at Addy in the eye anymore.

“She was okay when they took her. I’m sorry I turned away for a moment and they got in behind me and there was nothing I could do.”

Before she could even finish talking, 10k pushes past her and back out onto the street, almost breaking out into a run. The rain had turned to sleet now, the winter setting in. He put a hand to his head to keep it out of his eyes and searched the ground for any sign of the people who had been here before him. Finally his eyes fell upon some tire tracks in the dirt and he followed them, legs moving without his say so, pulling him towards his girlfriend.

“10k?” Warren is calling out his name from behind him but he doesn’t even hear it, he just keeps moving, now running at full pelt.

He has to get her back.

He can’t lose her.

Hope sits on the cold floor, arms around her legs to try and preserve any kind of heat that’s left inside her core. She couldn’t remember much of what had gone down, she’d woken up a while ago, clothes drenched as if she’d been out in the rain, and she had rope burns around her wrists. For a couple of minutes she’d run from side to side of the room, checking to see if she could break out. The doors were stuck shut, the windows barred up. Eventually she’d given up and sat down to wait for someone to come and check on her. When somebody did it was a young woman with blond hair in pigtails. She came across and squatted beside Hope, hands resting on her knees.

“How’re you doing dearie” she asked, no sign on sincerity in sight. Hope sneered back at her, eyes narrowing.

“I’d be better if you let me go, bitch.” She spat. The woman blew out a breath of air and laughed, taking her prisoner in.

“Let you go?” She tutted. “You’re never leaving this room.” The humour with which she spoke shook Hope to her very centre. She wasn’t someone who was doing something she thought was necessary. She loved holding someone captive, this woman was a psycho, someone who was pure hate and violence. The most dangerous kind of person.

“What are you going to do with me?” She finally managed to ask, cursing herself when she stuttered.

“You’re going to keep the rest of us alive.” Blondie replied, poking Hope in the leg with one of her sharp fingers. “Piece by piece.” It took a while for the words to sink in but eventually dawned on her what was going to happen. She was their livestock. They were going to eat her.

Shit. She struggled, going to get to her feet, but the woman pushed her back down onto the floor, laughing again. The sound was drilling into her brain, it made her want to vomit, it was like hearing someone she loved call out for her when she couldn’t save them. It was death incarnate.

“Hope?”

Both she and Blondie looked up towards the door at the same time. So she’d heard it too. It was real. 10k’s voice echoed down the hallway, footsteps alongside it.

“10k?” she called back, trying once again to stand up. The woman’s fist connected with her stomach, knocking the air out of her lungs.

“Shut up.” She whispered. “Or I swear that I’ll kill you right now.” Hope whimpered and backed into the wall, trying to get as far away as possible without alerting her as her gaze stayed fixated on the doorway. Suddenly 10k’s face appeared in the glass. He pounded on the door.

“Get away from her!”

The girl pulled Hope to her feet, drawing a knife and laying it across her neck. 10k’s eyes widened on the other side of the door and he backed away a little, raising his hands so that she could see he wasn’t attempting anything. The cold metal was painful against Hope’s skin, she shuffled, only managing to make the blade pierce her skin and she felt a cold stream of blood trickle over her collar bone.

“Please.” 10k speaks so quietly that she can only tell he’s speaking from watching his lips move through the glass of the door.

The woman presses the knife even closer, cutting as painfully deep as possible without doing any serious damage. 10k’s face contorts with anger and his hands drop out of view. For a moment Hope is worried that he’s just going to leave, decide that he can’t do anything, and not want to see how things turn out. But instead there’s a loud bang and the woman drops her in shock, she stumbles to the ground and immediately crawls away from her as 10k repeatedly shoots at the door, blasting the lock out of the frame, and then he kicks it down.


End file.
